University of Yellow Wallpaper

The University of Yellow Wallpaper

I did Wednesday's assignment first, and the text I reviewed in depth was "The Body" (and essentially a close reading), so here's a link to that blog entry. I will say that it was a very affective way of demonstrating the medium. All the compartments fit together, yet could stand alone. "The Body" is a hypertext anthology of memoirs. It was almost as if I were reading a converted paper novel. Using the actual drawing of the body as a homepage was very creative. It set up from the start that the parts were connected. Out of all the hypertext novels I've read this week, The Body was the one I enjoyed the most because it was the closest to a traditional novel (concerning the actual text), and therefore an easier read than some of the more experimental electronic literature. Never once did I pause and wonder what a section was about. There was no ambiguous language. Because the content itself was not confusing, I was able to focus more on Shelley's use of the medium. Everything was perfectly intertwined with everything else. I would call "The Body" almost seamless. 

close reading:

White uses the "University of Yellow Wallpaper" to describe the nature of a hypertext fiction through the metaphor of a person gone mad (heavily influenced by the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper"). Hypertext does not have a starting point, but several. It is difficult to locate the origin, because all points are connected to one another. The use of hypertext to tell the story adds to the madness and suspense because of the un-linear nature of the medium. White is aware of the fact that the branching off is confusing, that the reader is trying to search the text for the point to seemingly useless existential comments (White even references Beckett, the father of existentialistic theater). Medium aside, White's use of ambigous language furthers the suspense.

"I have as yet said nothing or, rather, said only the ambiguous, and in the end the logical thing would be to give up"

Rather than telling the reader to continue, the language, by being vague, but not too vague, is peaking our curiosity. Just as Beckett did in Endgame. The language makes a person thinks, and it is ultimately up to them to decide what the story is about and what happened. In this sense, Beckett was a forerunner of hypertext. His plays do have an end, but the purpose of the wording of the text, the "meaning" of the play is up to the reader to decide.There is no right or wrong way to interpret the text-because you will never know what that would be. And were never meant to. The thing about existentialism is that it can forever be revisited (because it can never be resolved).

"subaltern who saw everything about her reduced to absurdity" By addressing that the story is getting more and more absurd, White is rewarding her readers. Increasing absurdity gives hope to the reader that the point at which they will "get it" is soon around the corner.

The original work which inspired this hypertext fiction is directly referenced.By embedding some different interpretations of "The Yellow Wallpaper", White further drives the point home that there are many ways in which to take her work. Each interpretation provides a link, a different path down which you may follow the story. All and none are correct.

"Your think you have mastered it, but just as you get well underway in following, it turns a back-somersault and there you are. It slaps you in the face, knocks you down, and tramples upon you. It is like a bad dream"

White's direct quotations of "The Yellow Paper" points to hypertext, which binds the two types of fiction together effectively. "The Yellow Wallpaper, provided all at once on paper, may seem confusing and made because everything is thrown at the reader all at once. She or he cannot focus on one point or story arch at the same time. Perhaps that is the reason the page the above link leads to is titled "confined by paper." Paper text, by nature is linear. By using hypertext, the reader is more able to focus on the story because it is compartmentalized (but always connected). White may be trying to illustrate that The Yellow Wallpaper was an early attempt at hypertext.

Several links go in a circle. leading back to the same point everntually. This mini-home page includes the sentence "I can see myself counting to one hundred, flashing my tired teeth. I don't know where these sentences will take me".

The person speaking throughout the story, is in fact a manifestation of the wall, and all of its madness. The yellow wallpaper has many twisitng and turning paths which are all part of a wall, a whole. There is no end and no beginning of "The University of Yellow Wallpaper". There is no end or beginning, just interconnectedness and continuity, the central theme of hypertext.

My reaction:

I thought that the use of "The Yellow Wallpaper" was a very effective metaphor in demonstrating hypertext. By combining quotes from the story that inspired this electronic fiction and quotes about the nature of texts, White was able to relate two seemingly very different subjects. The links at first seemed to lead down different paths, but would eventually trace back to a common point. There was no end to the story. I don't think "The University of Yellow Wallpaper" was about telling a story like "The Yellow Wallpaper" so much as it was one extended metaphor, cycling back and always reminding us that all points, however strange, were related.